HBA-MSH H.B. 1649 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1649
By: Gallego
Corrections
7/19/2001
Enrolled



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Prior to the 77th Legislature, the primary duty of the Board of Pardons and
Paroles (board) was the discretionary release of eligible inmates sentenced
to the institutional division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
The board was composed of 18 members appointed by the governor. Six of
these members were chosen by the governor to serve as policy board members
who adopted rules relating the decision-making process and administered the
board's responsibilities. Questions were raised about the efficiency of the
board, including difficulties in coordinating activities, monitoring
performance, establishing and tracking caseloads, and organizational
structure. House Bill 1649 sets forth provisions relating to the
administration of the board and duties of the policy board. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency or institution. 

ANALYSIS

House Bill 1649 amends the Government Code to provide that it is grounds
for removal from the Board of Pardons and Paroles (board) that a member
fails to comply with policies or rules adopted by the Board of Pardons and
Paroles Policy Board (policy board) (Section 508.034). The bill provides
that the presiding officer of the board reports directly to the governor
and serves as the administrative head of the policy board and the board
(Sec. 508.035).  The bill requires the policy board to establish required
work hours for members of the board.  The bill requires the policy board to
require members of the board to file activity reports that provide
information on the hours worked of the members of the board (Sec. 508.036).
The bill requires the board to determine which inmates are to be released
on mandatory supervision, special conditions of parole or mandatory
supervision, the modification and withdrawal of conditions of parole or
mandatory supervision, the continuation, and modification of parole or
mandatory supervision, and at the direction of the presiding officer file
activity reports on duties performed (Sec. 508.044).  The bill requires a
parole panel rather than the board to provide notification to appropriate
entities when an inmate is released (Sec. 508.115).  The bill requires a
parole panel that is considering the release of an inmate on mandatory
supervision to allow the victim or another appropriate person to provide a
written statement or appear in person (Sec. 508.153).  After a hearing
before a parole panel, the bill authorizes a parole panel rather than the
board to continue, revoke, or modify the parole or mandatory supervision.
If the parole, mandatory supervision, or conditional pardon of a person
convicted of certain felonies is revoked, the bill provides that a person
may be required to serve the remaining portion of the sentence on which the
person was released. The bill sets forth provisions relating to serving the
remaining portion of a sentence for a person convicted of other offenses
(Sec. 508.283).  The bill amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to remove
references in provisions regarding restitution to "probation" and replace
such references with the phrase "community supervision" and remove "Board
of Pardons and Paroles" and replace it with "parole panel"(Sec. 42.037).  



 EFFECTIVE DATE

January 1, 2002.